The Titan's Curse: Annabeth's Story
by Kittycat32
Summary: Yes, yes, I know, I was holding the sky through most of this. But I have my buddy Thalia to tell her side of the story since I was... busy. Don't worry, she promised no serious bad language. Part Three to the Annabeth's Story Series. Rated T for language.
1. Percy Sucks at Dancing

**I'm Baaaaaccck! Miss me? Hehe =P**

**After a (very) tearful goodbye to my 2011 classmates of the 8****th**** grade, I'm on summer vacation! **

**Also, the bestest camp EVA! A week of memories that I will never forget! Ex: "I defy your goat!" "Steve, get out of the closet!' 'No!'" "Trololololol lololol" Elbow Fights, "Tell him he can go f himself!"**

**Anyways, I'm back, and this is the third installment of the Annabeth series! **Confetti rains down****

**You have no idea how hard it was to not start this early O_O I got sooooo bored before I went to camp. I literally just sat on the couch. I did so much nothing I wasn't even tired anymore! I didn't fall asleep until, like 4 in the morning =P Is that a bad thing? Actually, don't answer that one. Rhetorical question.**

**Truth be told, I really did miss you guyses =) You are like… anonymous friends to me, which is I guess the best, non-weird way to put it =P **

**So, for what you've all been waiting for… DUN DUN DUUUUHHH (dramatic music) THE FIRST CHAPTER! (I'm as excited as you are)**

**And, one more thing. Does anyone here like the the font Comic Sans? Because all my camp friends are shunning me for it! Grahh! That means you, Max, Grady, Will, Spencer, Margaux, Liam, Connell, and everyone else! Shun the non-believers! Please leave your comment for this separate for the story comment. That way I can rub it in their faces! Mwa hahaha… Oh, goodness, I'm turning evil…**

**Read, Review, and Favorite!**

**Percy Sucks at Dancing**

**Annabeth:**

Percy's mom picked up Thalia and I on the way to this strange military school where apparently, Grover had found two new possible demigods, parents yet to be discovered.

It was an eight hour drive to get there, and for the most part, Percy, Thalia and I were too anxious to talk. First demigod capture mission, what can I say?

Ms. Jackson, of course, didn't seem to have that issue. In fact, I don't think she stopped talking the entire ride.

Now, normally, you'd think that a parent talking would be kind of boring, right? Well, not for this. Ms. Jackson proceeded to tell us every single embarrassing baby story having to do with Percy.

Thalia and I were laughing so hard that it felt like we couldn't breathe anymore.

My personal favorite was the last story she told, before we got out. I won't tell the whole thing, because Percy could possibly die from embarrassment, but here was a line from the story.

"…And then he somehow got his little baby butt stuck in a sewage pipe!"

And it just got better from there.

I don't think I've ever seen Percy get that red, even when I managed to get the Aphrodite girls to put some permanent makeup on him for a few days. (They owed me for a few things, and hey, who doesn't want to prank Percy?)

Percy's mom dropped us off at the military school, Westover Hall. It looked like it was one of those haunted places where you would find the Scooby Doo gang lurking about and some kind of weird monster scaring the crap out of the students. It stood on the edge of a cliff, the ocean crashing against the battered rocks, while the wind whipped around us, snowflakes falling and spinning like little white tornados.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" asked Ms. Jackson.

"No thanks, Mom," said Percy quickly. "I don't know how long it'll take. We'll be okay." I think he just didn't want us to hear more hilarious baby stories.

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."

A faint redness spread across Percy's face, something I normally wouldn't have noticed, but with the cold, most of our faces were pretty pale. I turned my head away so he couldn't see my teasing smile.

"It's okay, Ms. Jackson," I said with a reassuring smile. I knew she thought I was the calmest demigod she had met, besides the time where Percy took my piece of chocolate pudding pie. I was the one who usually got Percy out of the messes he started, and she realized it.

Percy's mom let out a mini sigh of relief. "All right, dears. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Ms. Jackson. Thanks for the ride," Thalia responded.

"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"

"Mom-" Percy stuttered.

"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."

Ms. Jackson looked a little sad at that, and for a moment, I felt a pang of anger in my chest. I wished I had these moments with my mother. Percy didn't realize just how lucky he was.

Percy's mom drove away with a last worried glance from the rearview mirror, and disappeared along the winding road.

"Your mom is so cool, Percy," said Thalia as we walked toward the school.

"She's pretty okay," he admitted.

"What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?" asked Percy.

I wanted to slap him. Thalia's mother was never something you brought up in a conversation unless you wanted to be shocked. And possibly have some sort of brain damage from it.

The glare Percy got was one of the worst, and her outfit of an army jacket, leather pants, and eyeliner made it look like Percy was about to take a visit to Hades and never come back.

"If that was any of your business, Percy-"

"We'd better get inside. Grover will be waiting," I interrupted, not wanting this little dispute turn into something horrible and most likely painful.

Thalia glanced at me, and I flashed a warning in my eyes. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call," she said.

Percy looked darkly at the haunted house-like school. "Nothing good."

The giant doors creaked open, and we entered the place, snow swirling around our feet.

"Whoa," breathed Percy, and he was right.

Not only was the place huge, but there was every weapon known to mortal man hanging on the wall. Talk about gory. My hand slipped down to where I knew my knife lay hidden on my waist. It wasn't exactly the most inviting place if you know what I mean.

Percy and Thalia shifted uncomfortably, fingering their demigod weapons.

"I wonder where-" I started.

_Booom!_ The door slammed shut behind us.

This was usually where the creepy monsters came out of dark crevices and came to eat the weak one first. Probably Percy.

"Oo-kay, guess we'll stay awhile," said Percy.

This was just like in the movies. The funny, idiotic one got eaten/tortured first.

Music came from down the hall, disrupting the creepy atmosphere of the Hall of Guns and other Killing Devices.

We hid our bags behind a pillar and followed the sound. It wasn't long before we heard footsteps coming toward us, and a man and a woman slipped out of the shadows.

They were both in uniform, with gray hair and military clothes, red rimming around it. The man had a cleanly shaved face, while the woman, well, lets just say she had a little more that what you'd call "peach fuzz" under her nose.

"Well, what are you doing here?" she snarled at us.

"Um…" Percy stumbled, and I was so weirded out by the woman's girl-stache that I didn't respond.

"Ma'am, we're just-" Percy muttered.

"Ha!" snapped the man, and nearly gave me a heart attack. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

He had a French sounding accent, and from the looks of it, whenever he got mad or excited, his nostrils flared, and trust me, I did not want to see up those. One eye was brown, while the other was blue, so when he glared at you, it looked like one of those cats with different colored eyes.

Thalia stepped forward, snapping her fingers. Wind fluttered from her hand, toward the adults, and I knew she was manipulating the Mist.

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir. We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth and Percy. We're in the eighth grade," she said with perfect innocence.

The woman's eyes got foggy, and the man looked confused. Yes, it worked.

"Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

It took all my willpower to not burst out laughing. A teacher named Gottschalk? There was no way.

Mrs. Gottschalk blinked, and stared at us thoughtfully. "I…yes. I believe I do, sir. Annabeth. Thalia. Percy. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

More footsteps sounded toward us, and the familiar shape of a goat boy came toward us. "You made it! You-"

He stuttered to a stop, seeing the two teachers in front of us. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh-"

"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" asked the man, Dr. Thorn, with barely concealed hate. "What do you mean, they made it? These students live here."

Grover gulped, caught off guard. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant… I'm so glad they made… the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"

Why was it whenever Grover was here, things always seemed to circle around his stomache?

We got another glare from Dr. Thorn. Luckily for us, Mrs. Gottschalk was controlled by the Mist. "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

With sighs of relief, we all hurried away, saying things we thought you would say at a military school, like "Yes, Ma'am," and "Yes, Sir." Even a salute here and there.

Feeling the adults stare at our backs, we were herded by Grover toward the music. Percy walked closer to Thalia and said in a low voice, "How did you do that finger-snap thing?"

"You mean the Mist? Hasn't Chiron showed you how to do that?" asked Thalia.

Percy gave her an uncomfortable look and walked in silence.

We reached the door that said GYM, and Grover turned to us.

"That was close," he muttered. "Thank the gods you got here."

Thalia and I hugged him, while Percy did a manly high-five.

Grover looked pretty much the same, his rasta cap hiding his horns, hooves tucked safely inside shoes filled with Styrofoam. He was wearing a T-shirt that said, WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT I didn't know what a "grunt" was but it sure didn't sound good.

"So what's the emergency?" Percy asked.

"I found two."

"Two half-bloods? Here?" said Thalia. She hadn't heard the full story, just that Grover needed help.

Grover nodded.

Earlier this year, Chiron had sent satyrs everywhere in order to find new demigods. As much as he hated putting us into battle, we were losing campers, whether in death or of traitorous means, going over to Luke, but it was hard. There weren't many of out here.

"A brother and a sister. They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

"Monsters?" guessed Percy.

"One," said Grover, glancing around nervously. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance. Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

Grover looked to Thalia desperately.

"Right, these half-bloods are at the dance?" she asked.

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance. Who's the monster?" asked Thalia.

"Oh, you just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn."

We walked into the dance, and at once, I rolled my eyes. Giggling groups of girls huddled around unsuspecting boys, attacking them with makeup, while guys just about killed each other with streamers and balloons. Typical.

"There they are," said Grover, and he jerked his head in the direction of the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di Angelo."

The girl had a floppy green hat on, shadowing her face, while the boy was shuffling cards in his hands. They had dark hair and olive skin, and seemed to be arguing over something.

The girl looked around nervously, like there was something wrong.

"Do they… I mean, have you told them?" I asked, unsure.

"You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger," said Grover, shaking his head.

Grover glanced at Percy, and he nodded.

"So let's grab them and get out of here," Percy concluded.

He started to walk forward, but Thalia grabbed him by the shoulder. Percy didn't know the meaning of the word stealthily. He was always a face things head on type of guy.

Thalia gestured to where Dr. Thorn stood by the doorway, about twenty yards from the kids.

"Don't look at the kids," she told us. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interesting in them. Throw him off the scent."

"How?" asked Percy.

"We're three powerful half-bloods. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids."

"Dancing?" I gasped, horrified. I'm not the best dancer, if you know what I mean.

Thalia turned her head then frowned. "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"

"I did," said Grover, looking hurt.

"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"

"Green who?"

Thalia shook her head, disgusted. "Never mind. Let's dance."

"But I can't dance!"

"You can if I'm leading," Thalia answered. "Come on, Goat Boy."

Grover sent me a despaired look as Thalia led him away.

I smiled.

"What?" asked Percy, spotting it.

"Nothing. It's just cool to have Thalia back."

I pulled off the ski cap I was wearing, and my blond hair fell past my shoulders. It was time for a haircut.

"So…" said Percy lamely. It wasn't hard to tell that he couldn't think of anything to talk about.

"Um, build any good buildings lately?"

Now that was a way to start a conversation.

"Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program that lets us build our own little city and town!"

I explained that I wanted to design a huge monument at Ground Zero. I don't think he was really listening, but at least it kept from silences.

"Yeah, uh, cool," Percy said, not wanting to listen to the reasons why I wanted arcs in my building. "So you're staying there for the rest of the year, huh?"

"Well, maybe," I answered. "if I don't-"

"Hey!" called Thalia, where she was slow dancing with Grover, who incidentally, was tripping over his Styrofoam feet as usual.

"Dance, you guys!" she called. "You look stupid just standing there."

Percy glanced at me, then at a group of giggling girls. Ew, was he really thinking of dancing with one of them?

"Well?" I questioned.

"Um, who should I ask?"

I rolled my eyes and punched him only sort of hard in the gut. "Me, Seaweed Brain!"

"Oh. Oh, right," he stumbled over his words.

We walked to the dance floor where Percy glanced over to where other couples were slowly rocking back and forth. Geez, I was a bad dancer, but at least I knew what I was doing!

He placed a hesitant hand on my hip, and I grabbed his hand in order to get him to pay attention.

"I'm not going to bite," I reassured him. "Honestly, Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school?"

Was it that, or was a really too scary to think about that? Better not keep my mind on that. I decided to focus on dancing, and trying to keep Percy from throwing up with nervousness.

I noticed I was an inch or two taller then he was, which was in one way comical, the other awkward. He had yet to hit his growth spurt, while me, well, I was right in the middle of it.

It didn't help that Percy was stepping on my toes, so that anyone noticing us dancing would automatically make assumptions, and probably not the good kind.

"What were you saying earlier?" asked Percy. "Are you having trouble at school or something?"

I bit my lip. Should I tell him? Thalia already knew, but I had told her when we were waiting for Percy's mom to pick us up.

"It's not that. It's my dad," I said finally.

"Uh, oh," said Percy. He knew about the strangled relationship between my father and I. "I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your stepmom again?"

"He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War I book. In San Francisco."

I tried to put the last three words in emphasis so Percy knew how much I disapproved.

"So he wants you to move out there with him?" he asked.

"To the other side of the country," I said, depressed. "A half-blood can't live in San Francisco. He should know that."

"What? Why not?"

I rolled my eyes. He had to be kidding.

"You know. It's right there."

"Oh," said Percy, realizing his mistake. "So, you'll go back living at camp or what?"

"It's more serious then that, Percy. I… I should probably tell you something." I thought of the Hunter brochures in my bag. I was still undecided, but…

"They're gone," I said, as I glanced over to where the bleachers were.

"What?" he asked, and realized that Bianca and Nico di Angelo were gone.

"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" I said, looking around. "Oh, where;d they dance off to? Come on!"

I raced away through the crowd.

"Hey, babe, wanna dance," said a big muscular guy, putting an arm uncomfortably on my shoulder.

"Get away from me, creep." I shoved his hand away and went in the direction Thalia and Grover had danced off to when I had last seen them.

Where were they? Gods, now was _not _the time.

Finally, I spotted them talking to a group of kids probably seventh graders, their backs turned to me.

"Come on, Percy this way!" I said as I turned to him.

There was no one. I cursed in ancient Greek. Where the heck was he?

There was no time. We'd find him later.

"Thalia, Grover!" I called, waving my hand frantically.

I pulled them away from the mortals.

"They are gone."

**Sooo, first chapter! Tell me whatcha think! I value your opinion!**

**And don't forget. Say that the font Comic Sans is good! I need followers!**

**Bianca update in a day or two!**

**Review!**


	2. Cliff Diving: Only For Twilight

**Hiya, my peeps!  
><strong>

**I was going to have an update before. Really, I was! But then I saw that there was a live showing of the Harry Potter red carpet premier, and being the Harry Potter freak I am, I just had to watch it. Please tell me some of you saw it? Hehe.**

**Then some relatives came. So I got all caught up in that! Sorry!**

**Just to tell you, I'm going camping between July 17th to somewhere around the 21st, so no updates then. I also may or may not be updating the last week of July, cuz I'm going to visit a friend and stay for a few days with them, but we'll see =) **

**Anyways, how's life? Haha, sorry, it's just that my summer has been so boring since camp was over =P I've been texting a bunch of my friends, but still, I sit around doing nothing more and more often. I think I need to get out more. **

**Ok, so back on schedule now, going to have a Bianca sometime tomorrow, or later tonight, depending. **

**22 reviews on the first chapter! I love you guys in the most non-weird way possible!**

**First of all, big thanks to all those who said Comic Sans was completely totally awesome. I won my argument with your help =)**

Me **Aww, you missed me? Or rather, my writing? I'm touched. =P**

eaglewings2peace **Yes, I am still writing these. I made a promise for the whole series, didn't I? I tend to keep my promises. And aww, thank you. Most of the time my AN's tend to be written when I'm bored and feel like fanfiction, so it means a lot! I think they are making the Sea of Monsters movie, but to tell you the truth, I'm not too happy about it because they changed so much stuff for the first movie. -_- just my opinion, though. **

Deviant1 UK **Haha, thank you for that awesome review =) Glad to know I have some avid readers on my side! And plus, thanks for surviving all those PM's with me while I was stuck in an office. (much like I am now.) But anyways, I owe ya one!**

Dremmeng **In answer to your review on the Sea of Monsters and this book, Annabeth is making fun of Percy for this one, but she lets out her true thoughts in the Sea of Monsters. It's just her way of teasing him.**

C-Nuggets N.L **Haha, that part is coming! And a little Zeus daughter may just overhear Nico's bombarding questions to Percy. **wink wink** hehehe**

Cotix14 **All, thanks a ton! I hope I do Thalia's chapters well, I have to make her a bit more… oh what's the word… feisty, I suppose. But we'll see!**

Son of The Sea 100896 **Haha good idea, I wish I had thought of that, but oh well. I can imagine a centaur doing a worm, but from my mind, it looks very… painful hahaha.**

roseflorintine **Haha, okie dokie, and congratulations! You are the first person to review my story! I don't really have a prize to give you, but oh well, congrats anyway =)**

**Sheesh, these AN's are getting long. **

**And on with the actually writing!**

**Read, Review, and Favorite!**

**Cliff Diving: Only For Twilight**

"What?" asked Thalia, her gaze turning to the bleachers where the Di Angelo kids had been before. "Where did they go? And where the hell is Percy?"

"I don't know. I was dancing with Percy when I saw that they had disappeared. I went to find you and lost him along the way," I answered.

"Idiot Kelp Head. Percy probably went after them. Grover, you have the empathy link, right? Do you know where he is?" asked Thalia.

"Percy seems to be oka- wait, never mind. Something is making him nervous. I think I can find where he is though. Something bad is going on, though," replied Grover, putting his hand to his head.

"Gah, why did he run off like that? Someone with so little training can't beat Dr. Thorn. Even in hiding, I could sense the power emanating from the monster," grumbled Thalia.

I decided to stick up a little for Seaweed Brain. "Percy's stronger then he-"

"Don't you go standing up for him, Annabeth. You know full well he should have stayed where I could keep an eye on his annoying little self," retorted Thalia. "Come on. We have to go find those demigods. Grover, see if you can find Percy. I have a feeling something bad is about to happen." She rubbed her watch nervously, aka her Medusa shield she got from her father.

Grover closed his eyes, concentrating. "I think it's this way, guys!" he said, eyes still closed, and started jogging forward.

"Grover, wait there's a-"

SMACK

"wall," I finished.

Grover stood up, rubbing his head. "Oh. Oh, yeah, I knew that was there!" he said. "I… I was just… making sure it was… solid?"

"Come on, Goat Boy," said Thalia, rolling her eyes. I was too busy doubling over with laughter to comment.

Grover began following his empathy link, his eyes wide open this time. "Oh, ouch, yeah, he's in trouble," said Grover, wincing once.

I took out my dagger and put on my Yankees cap. Thalia unscrewed her thermos, and a sparking spear appeared.

"Ready, guys?" Thalia asked.

"Yep," I responded, slashing my knife into the air a few times.

Grover just nodded, brandishing a tin can like it was the scariest murder weapon in the world.

We were led outside into the cold air, following Grover as we stepped quietly and cautiously over the frozen terrain.

"Over there," whispered Grover, and he cocked his head in the direction of the sea.

I saw a large dark figure, and something waving around behind it. Was that a tail? What kind of monster was Dr. Thorn, anyway?

"We have to get closer," said Thalia. "But quietly." She looked pointedly at Grover.

"What?" he protested. "I was being perfectly quiet."

"You sound like someone breaking glass every time they put their foot down. Take off the fake shoes. That should be better," said Thalia.

Grumbling about the cold, Grover slipped off the shoes, hiding them underneath the roots of a tree.

We snuck closer to the monster. I began to see the Dr. Thorn more clearly, and realized what he was. He had the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and the face of a human. It was a manticore. And the worst kind at that. I could see the spikes sticking out from the tail, glistening in the moonlight. Poison.

"Thalia," I hissed softly.

She turned toward my voice, raising her finger to her lips.

"Manticore," I breathed, and she nodded, her electric blue eyes widening.

"Sneak up to the monster and push Percy and the others over so that the spikes will fly over their heads when I give the signal. Grover and I should be able to distract him. Get Bianca and Nico out of there," she whispered, and used a hand signal to urge me forward while she and Grover moved to get behind Dr. Thorn.

I crept closer and closer to the monster, and realized that he had Percy, Nico, and Bianca trapped at the edge of a cliff. The faint sound of a helicopter reached my ears, and I knew we were running out of time.

I got close enough to Percy to hear, "We have to jump off the cliff. Into the sea."

"Oh, super idea," said Bianca. "You're completely nuts, too."

I think I liked this girl.

I glanced back to see Thalia give the signal, and crashed into Percy and the two demigods, forcing them to the ground as spikes flew over our heads.

Thalia charged into battle, her spear flashing with shocks of electricity, her shield Aegis out in front of her. The Medusa face on it made Dr. Thorn flinch, but he held his ground as Thalia attacked.

"For Zeus!" called Thalia, and stabbed her spear toward Dr. Thorn's head.

He just snarled at her and swatted the weapon aside. His paws, orange with huge claws struck out only to be stopped by Thalia's shield with a spark of light.

Thalia, stunned slightly from the blow, rolled backwards and jumped to her feet.

Another round of spikes was hurled her way, his tail flicking back and forth. Thalia hid behind her shield, but the force of the impact pushed her over, and she fell to the ground.

Grover quickly stepped forward, reed pipes to his mouth, and began to play and Irish jig of sorts. Grass began growing through the snow around Dr. Thorn's feet, or rather, paws now.

In no time, Dr. Thorn was tangled. He roared in anger, and began to morph into a full manticore, getting larger and larger until he was able to rip himself out of the grass with ease.

"A manticore!" I warned Percy as my Yankee cap fell off. I would have to get it later.

"Who are you people?" asked Bianca. "And what is that?"

"A manticore?" gasped Nico. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

Wait, what was this kid talking about?

No time to ask. Dr. Thorn shook off the last of the grass and turned to us, snarling.

"Get down!" I cried, and pushed the di Angelo's into the snow. Percy just kind of stood there. I was about to kick him somewhere personal for him to actually get down when he slapped his watch, hiding beneath his own shield.

I turned to see Grover getting smacked by a massive paw and land with an "oomph" beside Percy.

"Yield!" cried the manticore.

"Never!" responded Thalia, and she charged at the monster, her spear raised.

A blinding light came from behind us, and I turned to see the helicopter appearing from below the cliff. It blinded Thalia for a second, and the spiky tail hit her shield, tossing her across the snow. Her shield flew one way, while her spear got stuck in the snow.

"No!" cried Percy, and he raced toward Thalia, deflecting a spike with his sword that would have certainly killed her. He raised his shield, but it was already damaged from the first round of spikes. It wouldn't take another blow.

"Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes," laughed Dr. Thorn.

I braced myself to run to aid Thalia and Percy.

"Whatever you do, stay here," I said to Bianca and Nico.

Then the sound of a hunter's horn came from the direction of the woods.

I froze. Did they want my answer already? I thought back to where the Hunter pamphlets were hidden in the depths of my bag. I wasn't ready to decide!

"No," growled the manticore. "It cannot be-"

He stopped speaking when an arrow sprouted from his shoulder. Roaring in pain, Dr. Thorn yelled, "Curse you!" and sent a volley of spikes in the direction of where the arrow came from.

Silver arrows flew from the woods in response, hitting each and every thorn before it reached them. Sheesh, those Hunters were good. Even the Apollo kids would be left in the dust by the accuracy of the young girls.

Dr. Thorn pulled the arrow from his shoulder with a cry of pain, and Percy tried to attack with his sword. Unfortunately, Dr. Thorn wasn't as injured as Percy thought.

Faster then something that big should be able to go, Dr. Thorn dodged and slammed his tail against Percy's already damaged shield.

The Hunters stepped out of the woods, dressed in silver parkas and jeans, well armed with bows.

"The Hunters!" I called to Thalia and Percy.

An older looking archer stepped forward, and I recognized her as Zoë Nightshade, the lieutenant of the Hunters.

"Permission to kill, milady?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the monster.

"This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws!" cried Dr. Thorn.

"Not so," said a girl with auburn hair, a bit younger then me. I recognized her as Artemis, goddess of the Hunt. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast. Zoë, permission granted."

"If I can not have these alive, I shall have them dead!" cried Dr. Thorn, and lunged at the unsuspecting Percy and Thalia.

"No!" I cried, and leaped forward.

"Get back, half-blood!" cried Zoë Nightshade. "Get out of the line of fire!"

I didn't listen, because I knew Percy and Thalia would die if I didn't. I leaped onto Dr. Thorn's back, driving my knife deep into his mane.

The manticore howled, twisting in circles and rearing. Now _this _was a bucking bronco. Those mortals didn't know what the heck they were talking about.

"Fire!" I heard from behind me.

"No!" screamed Percy from somewhere.

Arrows careened into the manticore's chest, neck, and other places, until he began to stagger back. "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!"

Suddenly, without warning, Dr. Thorn leaped off the edge of the cliff, me still hanging onto his back.

The last thing I remembered was the feeling of free fall until everything went black…

**Not the longest update, but it will do for now. Hope you all liked it! Once again, sorry about not being able to update sooner. Busy life, even in summer. =/**

**Bianca should be tomorrow, or later tonight. **

**For people who didn't Author Alert me, I made a Fourth of July Annabeth Special Addition as a new story. Check it out!**

**Review!**


	3. Memories of the Past

**You don't have to say anything, people, I know you are annoyed with me for not updating. **

**The reason is because I totally blanked that I was going on vacation from last Sunday to Thursday, and I was planning another update but have been just too busy to do it! My hands have been itching to type for like a week now… **

**I never thought I would be this busy this summer. Babysitting, vacations, spending times with some faraway friends, I thought I would be able to update more. Plus it's summer, so I tend to be REALLY lazy, unless I'm playing ultimate Frisbee or horse back riding. **

**Then, of course, Borders had a 40 percent off sale, since they are going out of business, so I have been locked in my room for many hours reading my new books, while my purse feels much lighter then usual =P**

**So please forgive me for that, I know I have been slacking on the writing department of my life. **

**I will not able to update next weekend, because I am staying with my BFFF (Love her like the sis I never had!) for the weekend since we live like two hours away from each other. Sadness =( anyways, yeah, I'll try to get in another update during the week for both Bianca and Annabeth, or well, mostly Thalia now… **

**A Bianca update will also be sometime this weekend so the last chapter should be next week. Sadness, I know =(**

roseflorintine **Aww, thanks, I'm touched that my writing means so much =)**

I'mDifferent-GetOverIt **Haha, fanfiction makes time fly for me =) I end up reading so many fanfics =P**

Son of The Sea 100896 **Haha, yes, tin cans are the worst weapons in the world! O_o they actually do hurt when someone throws a one full of tinned fruit at you… yeah, don't ask, haha! **

C-Nuggets N.L **Haha, that's the only thing about doing a fanfic on another person's side. There are no cliffies because everyone knows what happens! **

Cotix14 **Lol, thank you, I thought that part was a stroke of genius for me =) I needed some humor and that was the scene that popped into my head! And no, Katniss doesn't kill Peeta, don't you worry. R u a Gale or Peeta fan? I have to ask!**

redlox2 **Um, there will be some tidbits of what she's going through, but most of it will be Thalia's I think…**

Deviant1 UK **Haha, I think this one was a long review too =P And yes, there should be, depending on if my imaginative brain decides that it should be off vacation and get back to work thinking of scenes to write about =) And nah, you're pretty cool for a very shunned English dude =P And I think you rubbed off on me, since I am just so awesome like that =)**

twilightstargazer **Haha, when I realized that I could make fun of twilight, I leaped at the chance =P **

apersonfromflorida **Oh, yeah, sorry, I must have made a mistake for that… I'll be writing mostly through Thalia, but there will be some Annabeth in there!**

**READ THIS: Question, should I make a facebook page? Sometimes life gets in the way of my writing and I won't be able to tell you guys via fanfiction that I can't update or whateves, so I thought facebook would be a good way to do it. I'm too lazy to make a blog of tumblr, so what do you think?**

**WARNING: THALIA HAS SOME SERIOUS BAD LANGUAGE FOR THIS CHAPTER. I may turn this story to T for language….**

**Read, Review, and Favorite!**

**Memories of the Past**

**Thalia**

I froze as I watched Annabeth careen over the edge of the cliff, clinging desperately to the manticore's back.

"Annabeth!" yelled Percy, and tried to run to the edge of the cliff.

Gunfire sounded and holes appeared in the snow. I guess they didn't want us to do anymore cliff jumping.

"Mortals," announced a young girl with auburn hair, who I recognized as Artemis, "Are not allowed to witness my hunt."

She thrust out her hand and the helicopter turned into a flock of crows that flew away into the night.

Damn, I didn't like the Hunters one bit, but it would be totally awesome to have that kind of power!

While I watched the birds fly away, the Hunters stepped closer to Percy, Grover and I. Oh, no, I did not need these… brats meddling with my business.

Zoë (ugh) stepped up and looked at me with a face of disgust. "You."

"Zoë Nightshade," I said, trying to keep my cool and well… not succeeding. "Perfect timing, as usual."

Zoë's eyes scanned us over. "Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady," she said as if we were nothing more then merchandise to be archiving. Typical Hunters. They always thought they were better then us.

'

"Yes," replied Artemis. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."

"Annabeth!" yelled Percy desperately. "You have to let us save her!"

The goddess of the Hunt turned to him, her face expressionless. "I'm sorry, Percy  
>Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."<p>

Wait, was Annabeth… dead?

Percy tried to go toward the cliff, but a few Hunters I didn't recognize held him down.

"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," said Artemis coolly.

"Let me go!" yelled Percy as he struggled. "Who do you think you are?"

I mentally face-palmed. Even a kindergartener could tell that she was a god, even if they didn't know who exactly she was.

Zoë stepped forward as if to slap him. Part of me wanted to let her, but I wasn't going to have one of my friends bitch-slapped by a Hunter.

"No," said the goddess before Zoë could bring her hand down. "I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand." She looked up at Percy, her eyes the color of the moon, and just as cold.

"I am Artemis, goddess of the Hunt."

Percy just kind of stared at her for a second, and mumbled something like, "Um… okay."

Idiot.

I was shocked when Grover suddenly fell to his knees and started babbling. "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… wow!"

"Get up, Goat Boy," I said, annoyed. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"

"Whoa," said a voice from behind me. I turned to see Bianca looking at us as if we were complete freaks. Well, we kind of were, actually. "Hold up. Time out."

Everyone turned to her, and she pointed fingers at each of us. "Who… who are you people?"

Artemis's expression turned slightly softer. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?"

I caught a nervous glance between Bianca and Nico. Nico seemed too entranced with Artemis to reply to anything, though. I resisted an eye roll.

"Our parents are dead," said Bianca finally. "There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…"

Our faces must've shown that we didn't believe her, since it was obvious that she and her brother were a demigod, even if she herself didn't know it.

"What?" Bianca asked. "I'm telling the truth!"

"You are a half-blood," replied Zoë slowly, as if Bianca needed the information in slow-mo to understand. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian… athlete?" she asked with one eyebrow raised.

"No, one of the gods," said Zoë.

Sheesh, Zoë, way to break it to her slowly. Now she probably thinks we are all maniacs.

"Cool!" said Nico.

"No! This is not cool!" said Bianca, her voice shaking.

Nico began doing a little dance, like he needed to use the bathroom or something. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for-"

What the hell was this kid talking about?

"Nico, shut up!" said Bianca hysterically. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

I began to feel bad for the two kids, having just experienced a manticore attack and watching a girl jump off a cliff.

"Bianca, I know it's hard to believe, but the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… our lives are dangerous."

"Dangerous," repeated Bianca. "Like the girl who fell."

I turned my head away. I still hadn't come to terms with Annabeth being gone.

"Do not despair for Annabeth," said Artemis kindly. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I will find her."

"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" asked Percy.

"She is gone," said Artemis not unkindly. "Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."

Percy still looked like he wanted to leap off the cliff after her, but he saw the sense in Artemis's words.

"Oo!" said Nico, raising his hand like a little boy in school. "What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"

"He was a manticore," said the moon goddess. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again and they must be hunted whenever they appear."

"Or they'll hunt us," I added.

Bianca shivered. "That explains… Nico, do you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in D.C.?"

"And that bus driver," Nico continued, "the one with the ram's horns. I told you that real."

"That's why Grover has been watching you," replied Percy, "to keep you safe, if you turned out to be demigods."

"Grover?" said Bianca incredulously. "You're a demigod?"

"Well, satyr, actually," answered Grover, and kicked off his shoes.

I think Bianca nearly fainted.

"Grover, put your shoes back on," I reprimanded him. "You're freaking her out."

"Hey, my hooves are clean!" complained Grover.

_I don't think that was the reason, idiot, _I thought to myself.

"Bianca," interrupted Percy, trying to change the subject from Grover's hooves. "We came to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."

"Camp?" asked Bianca.

"Camp Half-Blood," replied Percy. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."

"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico enthusiastically.

"Wait," said Bianca hesitantly. "I don't-"

"There is another option," interrupted Zoë.

"No, there isn't!" I retorted. We needed new campers, and I wasn't about to let the Hunters steal yet another girl.

Zoë and I had a little glaring contest. I remembered the first time we met, on the way to Camp Half-Blood with Luke, Annabeth, and Grover…

"_Thalia, I could so totally beat you in a fist fight," said Luke with a smirk, his blond hair blowing slightly in the wind. _

"_As if," I countered, rolling my eyes. "You may have the strength, but you don't have the skill." _

"_What do you mean, no skill?" he asked incredulously, and proceeded to do a series of complicated moves with his sword, the blade blurring with the speed of the attacks. _

"_Fist fight, Luke. No swords allowed, in case you hadn't noticed. Plus, you don't have the power to shock people whenever they touch you," I replied. _

"_Cheater," said Luke, his eyes blazing in challenge. "Without your power, I could pin you down with ease."_

"_Oh, really? Bring it on, Luke. Bring. It. On."_

"_Fight! Fight! Fight!" said Annabeth gleefully, and I turned to give her a smile. _

_Something bashed into me, and I yelped with surprise as I was tackled to the ground by Luke._

"_Hey, not fair!" I complained as Luke tried to pin me down, holding my arms to the ground with his strength. _

"_Life isn't fair, Thal, get used to it," said Luke._

_I pulled my legs back, so that they were curled to my stomach, and thrust them out to where Luke was above me, landing solid kicks to his abdomen, successfully knocking the air out of him and pushing him away from me. He staggered away, releasing his hold._

_Jumping up, I ran to where Luke was on his knees and trying to catch his breath. _

_One swift push and he was lying on his stomach. I then proceeded to sit on his shoulders while he struggled to get up. _

_I faked a yawn and crossed my legs. "Give up yet?" I asked. _

"_Never," grumbled Luke, his voice muffled by the earth. _

"_The maiden has won. I would suggest that you stop struggling before you embarrass yourself more."_

_I started, looking to where the unfamiliar voice had come from._

_A girl, about my age, stepped out of the forest, her hair the color of auburn and moon-like eyes, seemingly wise beyond the age of her body. Other girls stepped out from behind her, ages ranging from nine to about fourteen. _

_Though the auburn-haired girl was not the oldest, there was a sense of power surrounding her, and the way other girls stood around her, you could tell she was their leader. _

_Luke stopped struggling, staring at the girls before him. I stood up and offered my hand, pulling him to his feet._

_His shirt was covered in dirt, turning the white Under Armor shirt a light beige. He tried to swipe it off, but the color seemed to only smudge. _

_I thump on the ground beside me caught my attention, and I turned to see Grover bowing to the twelve-year-old girl._

"_M-Milady, it is an honor! I never thought I would be lucky enough to meet you!" he cried, babbling like an idiot. _

"_Get up, satyr, I have no wish to be bowed upon at this moment. There is a time and place for everything, and this is not it," said the auburn-haired girl coldly._

"_Boys," spat a girl with a silver tiara sort of thing on her head, although it looked more like an ancient Greek head wreath. She glared to where Luke and Grover stood. "Though I don't know if thy satyr counts as a male."_

"_Hey!" protested Grover. "I am a dude through and through! I can prove it!"_

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa, that is something I definitely do not want to see," I interjected before Grover could do anything too mind-scarring. "I'll take your word for it."_

_I turned to the group of girls, who I now noticed all seemed to be wearing some sort of silver, whether it was their clothes or accessories, and all seemed to have bows strung across their backs. _

"_Um, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who are you people, exactly?" I asked, appraising them. _

_I heard Grover give a little gasp of shock, but how in the world was I supposed to know who they were? I only started to learn this Greek stuff a few months ago._

"_I, maiden, am Artemis, goddess of the moon and Hunt. These are my Hunters. They help me with tracking and slaying monsters."_

_I gaped at her. "B-but, you're like, twelve!"_

"_I prefer the age of my Hunters, so that we may all have things in common. But I can show you another form of myself, if you wish," said Artemis._

_I shook my head. "Oh, I believe you all right, but what the heck are you doing here? I mean no disrespect, but don't you have something more important to do?"_

"_Insolent girl," said the girl with the tiara thing on her head. "How dare thee speak to a god like that?"_

"_Shh, Zoë, now is not the time for arguing. In answer to your question, Thalia, was it? Well, I am on the constant lookout for new recruits to join me in my eternal hunt. They are hard to come by, since most girls around your age are smitten with boys already. It gives me little time to find them before it is too late."_

"_And… you're offering me a spot? Just like that?" I asked with raised eyebrows. _

"_As I said, maidens like you are hard to come by. I must leap at every opportunity, fore every addition counts. You will be immortal as soon as you take my pledge and join my Hunt," answered the goddess. _

"_Thanks for the offer and all, but think I want to stay here with Luke, Annabeth, and Grover. They'll need me more then ever. Plus think they would miss me too much," I said with a cocky grin toward my little group._

"_How dare you refuse an offer so rarely given? You can have immortality, friendship, and a sense of belonging, and you are willing to throw it away without a second glance?" demanded Zoë, her eyes flashing. _

"_Hey, it's my decision, isn't it? I don't want to be a Hunter. Especially if you continue to say what a mistake I'm making. I have a commitment to my friends, and I intend to keep it. I'm not just going to drop everything and run at you with open arms!" I said, anger beginning to flicker to life inside me. _

"_You are making a big mistake, half-blood. Joining the Lady Artemis's ranks is an honor that many girls beg to be invited to. Think carefully, fore you may not have another chance," said Zoë with a glare._

"_I don't need to think about it. My first priority is to my friends, and getting them to camp where we belong," I said, staring her down with equal hostility._

"_You will regret this choice, Daughter of Zeus, for the rest of your miserable life. Nothing is better then being a Hunter of Artemis," she said with finality._

_My anger bubbled and I took a threatening step forward. Zoë stood her ground, her hand twitching to where her bow hung on her shoulder. _

"_Zoë, enough," interrupted Artemis. "She has made her choice. Though I do not agree with it, I will not force her. We will leave."_

_With a last glare, Zoë turned her back on me and stalked back into the forest, the other girls following her, whispering silently and stealing glances at me. I guess that offer wasn't turned down too much. _

Truth be told, there was only one thing that I realized that day, meeting the Hunters. I would always hate Zoë Nightshade. We would always clash, like water and fire.

I was still lost in bad memories when Artemis interrupted my train of thought.

"We've burdened these children enough," said the goddess. "Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady," answered Zoë.

"And Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you," continued Artemis.

"What about me?" asked Nico.

Artemis looked over the boy thoughtfully. "Perhaps you could show Grover how to that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?"

Grover leaped up, almost falling over in his haste. Gods, he would jump off a cliff for a "favor" to Artemis if she so asked it. Love-sick satyrs were always the worst. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"

They walked away from us, their fading voices talking about hit points and things that I frankly didn't care about. Artemis led Bianca away, and Zoë gave me one last hateful glare before going to oversee what the other Hunters were doing.

As soon as that… female dog was out of earshot, I stamped my foot. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so… argh!"

"I'm with you," said Percy, "I don't trust-"

"Oh, you're with me?" I interrupted with a flash of fury. "What were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy? You'd take on Dr. Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster!"

"I-"

"If we'd stuck together, we could've taken him without the Hunters getting involved. Annabeth might still be here. Did you think of that?" I went on, letting out my madness and sadness about Annabeth being gone to who-knows-where.

Percy clenched his teeth, and I braced myself for a flurry of words, none of them good, when he looked down to the snow. I saw the worn blue cap that was Annabeth's Yankees cap.

A tear slipped from my eye, and I wiped it, turning and walking away so that Percy didn't see my sadness. 

I paced the outskirts of camp, going through what had happened tonight. I had just gotten out of the pine tree, for the gods' sake! Now Annabeth, the little sister who now seemed so grown up, was gone.

I absently pet the wolves that the Hunters used to hunt, their fur the color of silver, just like anything else to do with Artemis.

I don't know how long I sat there, mourning in silence, but when I saw the sky begin to lighten, I knew it was time for me to get over it, and focus on what was going on in camp.

I walked into camp to see Percy, Artemis, Bianca, and Zoë talking quietly. I caught the last sentence Artemis spoke as I got into earshot.

"It's time for you to meet my irresponsible twin, Apollo."

Oh, now this was going to be interesting.

**Bianca on Monday! I've got relatives and babysitting tomorrow, sorry!**

**Please get back to me on the whole Facebook thing!**

**Review!**


	4. Driving Test, Demigod Style

**Yo, yo, yo!**

**I totally blanked that I had Ultimate Frisbee last night, so that's why there was no update! Sorryz!**

**ANYWAYS… I gots a facebook page! Kittycat32 on Fanfiction. net ! You can find the link on my profile page!**

**I'm exhausted today, so this might sound a little bit tired! I have a feeling I'm going to sleep pretty early tonight =P**

Son of The Sea 100896 **Haha, ask what? And yes, Thalia's language is much worse then Annabeth's. I've never really tried writing from a punk girl's side, so lets see how it goes!**

Deviant1 UK **Fore is a word! It's actually an old English word, thank you very much! Look it up =P **

Cotix14 **Hahah, thank you! I tried to make the flashback funny, yet give Zoe a… snooty/snotty attitude =) Um, I'm more of a Gale girl, just because I met him first, and that he has so much in common with Katniss. But I also feel that Peeta should be with someone also…**

GraceOfTheFlower **Hahah, yeah, I noticed that too, how Blackjack had a gender change =P Everyone makes mistakes with that every once in a while though!**

smileyhippoes **Haha, I'm going to! And sheesh, that's a lot of reading! I'm glad you like this series so much!**

blueowl **Thank you! I always love it when people say they like my writing! And no prob, I'll work on that =)**

**Read, Review, and Favorite!**

**Driving Test, Demigod Style**

Artemis said that dawn was coming shortly, but it was still dark enough to see the stars. I've done my fair share of all nighters, so I was pretty sure we still had at least an hour until the sun came up.

The Hunters packed up quickly, under the watchful eye of Zoë. I knew she was the lieutenant and everything, but I think the Hunters could pack up without her watching them like a hawk.

After giving an exaggerated eye roll, I walked past them, dragging Grover to where Percy stood by the cliff. He had just had a meeting with Artemis and Bianca, and I desperately wanted to know what had happened.

Percy then went on to explain that Bianca had joined the Hunters. Why couldn't Artemis and her girly girls let Bianca give Camp Half-Blood a chance? They just had to go and steal every potential young lady that happened to cross their path.

And what's worse, they were "escorting" us to camp! I didn't need an escort to my own home, thank you very much. So Artemis had to go solo for a little bit. Bringing the Hunters to Camp Half-Blood wasn't exactly the best idea!

"The last time the Hunter's visited camp, it didn't go well," gulped Grover.

"How'd they even show up here?" asked Percy. "I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."

"And Bianca joined them," I hissed. "It's all Zoë's fault. That stuck-up, no good-"

I would have said some nastier words had Grover not interrupted.

"Who can blame her?" he asked. "Eternity with Artemis?"

I rolled my eyes. "You satyrs. You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"

"But she's so… into nature," Grover said with a dreamy look on his face.

"You're nuts," I told him.

"Nuts and berries," he said. "Yeah."

The sky on the horizon finally lightened, blocking out some of the stars with rays of sunshine.

"About time," muttered Artemis. "He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."

"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" asked Percy.

"For my brother, yes."

Percy looked a tad confused.

"It's not exactly as you think," said the moon goddess, spying the look.

"Oh, okay," Percy relaxed. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a-"

We were suddenly blinded by light, and a blast of warm air washed over us, silencing Percy mid-sentence.

"Don't look," called Artemis. "Not until he parks."

I lifted my arm to my face, squinting in the bright light until it was too hard to even keep my eyes open.

The heat intensified, making my winter coat seem like an oven, until the light faded, and the air settled around us.

I put my arm down, and looked forward. An awesome car stood in front of me, a red Maserati Spyder. It was one of those cars you always saw old people in, trying to look cool with their convertibles. Not that it was a bad thing. I wouldn't mind have a Spyder or two lying around to drive in.

The car was glowing with heat, and all the snow around had been melted, unfortunately, mostly on my shoes. They were soaking wet.

The driver got out of the car, and I swear my jaw hit the ground. Complete surfer body, tan and all. Sun-lightened dirty-blonde hair framed his face, and he had an easy-going look to him.

"Wow," I breathed. "Apollo is hot."

"He's the sun god," Percy said.

"That's not what I meant."

"Little sister!" called Apollo gleefully. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"

"I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister," said Artemis with a sigh.

"Hey, I was born first."

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue-"

"So what's up?" interrupted Apollo. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"

Artemis took a calming breath. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sure, sis!" said Apollo with a smile that was almost as bright as his car. Then he lifted his hands in a "everyone-stop" gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on."

The Hunters around me groaned.

The sun god held up a hand and cleared his throat.

"Green grass breaks through snow.

Artemis pleads for my help.

I am so cool."

He gave us a floppy grin, obviously waiting for us to shower him with applause.

"That last line was only four syllables," said Artemis.

She did have a point there. He got a ten for the hotness scale, but I think he needed a few more brain cells.

"Was it?" asked Apollo with a frown.

"Yes. What about, 'I am so big-headed?'"

"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." Apollo turned away, obviously deep in thought.

Zoë (Ugh) turned to us. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, 'There once was a goddess from Sparta'-"

"I've got it!" Apollo announced triumphantly. "'I am so awesome.' That's five syllables!" he bowed, obviously pleased with himself.

"And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."

"These demigods will also need a ride," said Artemis, pointing to us. "Some of Chiron's campers."

"No problem!" Apollo looked us over. "Let's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

I blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time-"

Part of my was happy that I was labeled a "pretty girl" but the other part wondered just how many girls he knew that were now trees.

"Brother, you should get going," said Artemis pointedly.

"Oh, right," replied the sun god, and looked at Percy. "Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah. I mean… yes, sir."

Apollo looked him over, but said nothing. Okay, creeper much?

"Well," he said at last. "We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way. West. And if you miss it, you miss it."

"Cool car," said Nico, walking over.

"Thanks, kid," said Apollo.

"But how will we all fit?" asked Nico.

"Oh," said Apollo, realizing the problem. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…"

He took out his car keys and pressed the security alarm button.

The car glowed brightly, and I squinted again. When the light died down, a turtle top bus was in its place, the buses they usually used for basketball faraway games at school.

"Right, everybody in," said Apollo.

Zoë ordered the Hunters to start loading all their stuff, and picked up her camping pack.

"Here, sweetheart. Let me get that," said Apollo with a flirty smile.

Zoë backed up, murder flashing in her eyes.

"Brother," Artemis said crossly. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."

Apollo spread his hands in a shrugging motion. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

"Hunting. It's none of your business," said the moon goddess shortly.

"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."

Jeez, Apollo was a stalker! I see all… I know all… it's like Santa Claus, watching you all year to see if you are "naughty" or not. "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why…" I'm just glad that there wasn't a Greek Santa. I didn't even want to know what would happen with that.

Artemis snorted, very sister-like. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"

"No, no! I never mess around." 

Artemis let out an eye roll, and turned to her Hunters and us. "I will see you by the winter solstice. Zoë, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

"Yes, my lady," said Zoë, straightening proudly. Show off.

Artemis touched the ground. When she rose, her eyes were worried. "So much danger. The beast must be found."

She then proceeded to sprint into the woods, a silvery wolf following close behind.

Apollo turned away from her, and gave a mischievous grin. "So, who wants to drive?"

The Hunters immediately piled into the van and took the spots at the very back, as far away as possible from the boys. Even Bianca followed them, leaving her own brother with us. Hunters. Once they had you, they never let you go.

Percy, Grover, Nico and I sat in the front, along with Apollo.

"This is so cool!" said Nico, jumping up and down on the drivers seat. Oh, god. Nico was not going to be driving. He was only ten years old! "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"

"Downsizing," said Apollo. "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

"But how does it work?" asked Nico. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"

Apollo ruffled his hair. "That rumor probably got started because of Artemis used to call me a fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sum? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from the east to west, lighting up all those puny mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"

Nope.

Nico shook his head. "No."

"Well then, just think of it as really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

"Can I drive?" asked Nico.

"No. Too young."

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand like a school boy.

"Mm, no," said Apollo. "Too furry."

And then he looked at me. Oh, crap.

"Daughter of Zeus! Lord of the sky. Perfect."

"Oh, no," I shook my head vigorously. "No, thanks."

"C'mon. How old are you?" asked Apollo.

I hesitated. "I don't know."

Time had seemed warped after five years in a tree. I sadly didn't know my age at all. I should be nineteen, but I don't know if tree years were slower or faster.

Apollo tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week."

"That's my birthday! December twenty-second."

"Which means you're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit!"

I shifted nervously. "Uh-"

"I know what you're going to say," Apollo interrupted. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky."

Apollo laughed good-naturedly. We didn't join him.

I tried to say that I didn't want to drive, that I was afraid of heights, but Apollo simply did not listen to me. Gods were so thickheaded sometimes! He pressed a button and a sign appeared on top of the windshield. WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.

Oh, that was comforting.

"Take it away! You're gonna be a natural!" said Apollo.

I wasn't so sure about that.

"Speed equals heat," said Apollo. "So start slowly and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up."

I resisted making a "that's what she said," joke, and squeezed the steering wheel.

Happy thoughts, Thalia. Happy thoughts. I could do this. I believe in myself.

Crap it wasn't working. Who the hell thought that would work? I was still scared of heights! No amount of self encouragement was going to help that.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked me.

"Nothing," I replied. "N-nothing is wrong."

I pulled back on the wheel, and the bus lurched up so fast that Percy fell onto Grover.

"Ow," Grover complained.

"Sorry."

"Slower!" Apollo told me.

"Sorry!" I squeaked. "I've got it under control!"

I didn't want to risk looking out the window. We were too high already.

"Thalia, lighten up on the accelerator," advised Percy.

"I've got it, Percy," I gritted my teeth.

My foot twitched to where it pushed on the gas, jerking us.

"Loosen up," Percy told me.

"I'm loose!" I snapped at him.

"We need to veer south for Long Island. Hang a left," said Apollo.

I jerked the wheel and Percy slammed into Grover again.

"The other left," suggested Apollo.

Gods curse it! I was dyslexic, how was I supposed know?

"Ah… a little lower, sweetheart. Cape cod is freezing over," said Apollo with forced calmness.

I pushed the wheel down, resisting glancing out the window.

I heard a girly scream, and realized it was Percy. Ha, sissy!

Apollo had been thrown to the back of the bus, but he began his descent back toward us.

"Take the wheel!" Grover practically begged him.

"No worries," said Apollo. "She just has to learn to- WHOA!"

I glanced outside to see us miles above the ground. I let out a whimper.

"Pull up!" yelled Percy.

I followed his directions, and we continued down our path.

"There! Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expressions."

"I'm under control, I'm under control," I muttered, mostly to myself.

"Brake," said Apollo.

"I can do this."

"BRAKE!"

I slammed my foot on the other pedal, and the bus tipped at a forty-five degree angle, slamming into the camp's lake, steam billowing out from under us.

Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?

"Well, you were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?" asked Apollo.

**Ta da! How was it?**

**Don't forget to check out my facebook page and like it!**

**Review!**


	5. Camp and Betrayal

**Okay, guys, I've had enough comments about this.**

**Annabeth's Story is the name of my series. I've done The Lightning Thief and the Sea of Monsters in Annabeth's perspective. But, seeing as she is holding up the sky through most of this, I don't think you want each chapter to be "I'm holding up the sky" until the very end. So, I'm doing Thalia's POV with frequent intervals of Annabeth. **

**And HOLY CRAP GUYS! 62 reviews, and it's only 4****th**** chapter! You guys make me so happy =D**

**Like my facebook page! The link is on my fanfic profile page.**

**And, I just realized something. Apollo said he knew all, right? So he knew Thalia was afraid of heights when he told her to drive. What was his motive?**

**If you wanna check out Annabeth's Story of TLT and SoM, you can find them on my page =)**

I'mDifferent-GetOverIt **Um, I've read the first book, and it was good, I just haven't gotten around to reading the rest of them =)**

Son of The Sea 100896 **Haha, what? I'm a tad confused. Anyways, haha, I remembered Artemis was supposed to be like a Santa Claus after, I uploaded this, but maybe Thalia didn't know about it until now =P**

Starlight1746 **Read above. I'm going to put some chapters of Annabeth in here, sure, but I'm only on chapter 5! I have to wait until something happens to her (like in Percy's dream) for anything with her POV to be interesting =)**

summergirl881 **Haha, well, he probably just put them back on afterwards, I dunno =P**

blueowl **Haha, thank you =) I try to make it as realistic as I can according to the book.**

CountrySweetHeart **Read the above A/N. It will tell ya why =)**

C-Nuggets N.L **Read the above A/N! =)**

Deviant1 UK **Haha, it actually is a word, look it up! And some girls like that, some girls don't, it depends =P Lol and all-nighter is when you stay up all night =P**

Mythical Words **Haha, thanks!**

**Read, Review, and Favorite!**

**Camp and Betrayal **

**Thalia**

I got out of Apollo's car/bus/whatever-you-call-it as quickly as possible. I stuffed my shaking hands inside my pockets before anyone could see and turned to see the dazed group of Hunters stumbling out, along with Percy, Nico, and Grover.

Grover looked a little more distraught then the others, letting out little goat sounds. I wasn't _that _bad, was I? I mean, Sure, it was my first time driving, and sure, I was afraid of heights. But I, personally think I handled it quite well.

Although there was a raging blizzard outside, the camp was lightly dusted with snow, and frost covered most everything. It was warmer then outside the magical barriers, but not by much. The cabins were decorated with Christmas lights, glinting and flickering, except they weren't your normal Christmas decorations. These seemed to be real balls of fire, probably made by the Hecate cabin, whose mother was the goddess of magic.

I saw a bigger fire up inside the Big House, in the attic where the Oracle lived, and I wondered if in the winter, she had a whole Christmas party up there, her dead friends singing songs by the campfire, dropping their limbs, opening presents, and all that stuff. If so, I totally wanted to be invited to that. It was like the zombie apocalypse, except for the whole end of the world part, and dead things wanting my brain! Damn, I've been watching too many scary movies lately.

"Whoa, is that a climbing wall?" asked Nico, pointing to it.

"Yeah," replied Percy.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?" he asked.

"Little extra challenge. Come on, I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoë, have you met-"

"I know Chiron," Zoë replied with a cold voice. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."

"I'll show you the way!" Grover offered instantly. I rolled my eyes. Satyrs were always so desperate.

"We know the way," said Zoë flatly. "Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here, if you don't-" Grover then proceeded to trip over a canoe, and came right back up, still talking. "-like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"

Zoë rolled her eyes, but followed him without comment, lifting her bag to her shoulders, the other Hunters trailing behind. Seriously, they followed her like a bunch of lovesick puppies. It was like they were taken over by the pod people, and they all had the same thoughts. Dammit, I really do have to stop the scary movie marathons!

"Take care, sweethearts!" called Apollo to the Hunters.

Apollo winked at Percy. "What out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."

"What do you mean?"

The sun god didn't answer, but only hopped back into his chariot. "Later, Thalia, and uh, be good!" He gave me a creeper smile, and drove off, leaving only a blast of heat behind him.

Well, what the heck did that mean? 'Be good'? Cryptic much?

"Who's Chiron?" asked Nico. "I don't have his figurine."

"Our activities director," answered Percy. "He's… well, you'll see."

"If those Hunter girls don't like him, that's good enough for me. Let's go," grunted Nico. Oh, he was already hating the Hunters! I must be rubbing off on him! I had a good feeling about this kid.

As we walked to the Big House, I noticed the emptiness from camp. I knew most campers went home for the year, but the place looked deserted. Beckendorf was doing something at the forge, the Stoll brothers were picking the lock on the camp store, and the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight. It was the same usual stuff that happened at camp, just at a lower dose of demigod-ness, with all the people gone.

We reached the Big House, decorated with yellow and red flame decorations, not really Christmas colors, but I doubted Mr. D wanted to be "traditional" and put red and green together.

Inside, Mr. D and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards, the smell of hot chocolate wafting around the room.

Chiron was in his wheelchair, probably hiding the fact that he was a centaur for Nico's sake.

Percy! Thalia!" smiled Chiron when he saw us. "Ah, this must be-"

"Nico di Angelo," answered Percy. "He and his sister are half-bloods."

Chiron let out a relieved breath. "You succeeded then."

"Well…" Percy said hesitantly.

Chiron's smile dropped. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?"

Percy and I shifted nervously, but didn't answer.

"Oh, dear," said Mr. D in a mocking voice. "Not another one lost."

I resisted the urge to yell at him, shouting that he didn't care about any of us, a few bits of profane language here and there, but a warning look from Chiron told me to keep my mouth shut.

"What do you mean? Who else is lost?" I asked instead.

Grover decided to trot in just then, and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to hide a snicker. He had a black eye and an angry red mark that look suspiciously like a hand. Ha, Grover just got bitch-slapped! "The Hunters are all moved in!"

"The Hunters, eh?" frowned Chiron. "I see we have much to talk about. Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film," he said, looking at Nico.

"But… oh, right. Yes, sir," said Grover.

"Orientation film? Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict-"

"It's PG-13," said Grover.

"Cool!" said Nico happily and followed him out of the room.

"Now, perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story," said Chiron said to Percy and I.

I got myself comfortable in a chair by the fire and waited for Percy to begin. When we were done explaining all that had happened, Chiron turned to Mr. D.

"We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately."

"I'll go!" Percy and I said at the same time."

"Certainly not!" Mr. D sniffed.

I started complaining to him, Percy echoing me, but the wine god held up his hand. He had the look in his eyes that said "If you don't shut up, I'm going to do something painful to you now". I closed my mouth and waited for an answer.

"From what you have told me," said Mr. D, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell-"

"Annabeth!" snapped Percy angrily, and I shot him a warning glance.

"Yes, yes," Mr. D waved him off. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point in risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead."

I wanted to strangle Mr. D until he begged for mercy. Why did it have to be this century that Zeus decided to cast him off to camp? I mean, there were plenty of other times in the future that would have been much easier.

"Annabeth may be alive," said Chiron, but his optimistic words sounded forced. "She's very bright. If… if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."

"That's right," I agreed. "Luke would want her alive."

"In which case," Mr. D interrupted, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."

Percy stood up, his chair pushed violently away.

"Percy," warned Chiron, his eyes flashing.

"You're so glad to lose another camper. You'd like it if we all disappeared!" yelled Percy to Mr. D.

"You have a point?" said Dionysus, stifling a yawn.

"Yeah. Just because you were sent here as a punishment, doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little!" shouted Percy.

Mr. D's eyes got a dangerous look to them, and he opened his mouth to say something, probably having to do with Percy dying a slow painful death, when Nico and Grover burst into the room. 

"SO COOL!" yelled Nico. "You're… you're a centaur!" he held his hands out to Chiron in amazement.

"Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters," said Chiron nervously.

"And, whoa! You're the wine dude? No way!"

Mr. D gave Nico a scathing look. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine!" said Nico excitedly.

"My figurine."

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks this you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"

"Ah," said Mr. D, looking a tad confused. "Well, that's… gratifying."

"Percy," said Chiron quickly, while Mr. D was distracted. "You and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."

"Capture the flag? But we don't have enough-"

"It is a tradition, a friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

"Yeah," I murmured under my breath. "I bet it's real friendly."

Chiron subtly jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still looking at Nico. "Run along now."

"Oh, right," I said as I caught on. "Come on, Percy."

I dragged him out of the Big House before Dionysus could turn him into a glass of wine and drink him.

"You've already got Ares on your bad side," I scolded him as we walked to the cabins. "You need another immortal enemy?"

"Sorry," grumbled Percy. "I couldn't help it. It's just so unfair."

I stopped next to the armory, and looked across camp to where my tree was. Or, what was my tree.

"Percy, everything is unfair," I murmured. "Sometimes I wish…"

I didn't finish, but my voice must have sounded sad.

"We'll get Annabeth back," comforted Percy. "I just don't know how yet."

"First I found out that Luke is lost," I mumbled. "Now Annabeth-"

"Don't think like that."

I straightened up. "You're right. We'll find a way."

We spotted some Hunters shooting hoops at the basketball court, but one of them was arguing with an Ares camper. Uh, oh. This was not going to be good.

"I'll break that up," I said with a sigh. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow."

"Alright. You should be team captain."

"No, no," I argued. "You've been at camp longer. You do it."

"We can uh… co-captain or something," said Percy.

I nodded, even though a part of me knew that we would most likely be tearing each other's throat out by the first ten minutes of it.

I started walking to the court when Percy called to me.

"Hey, Thalia."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about what happened at Westover. I should've waited for you guys," he continued.

"S'okay, Percy. I probably would've done the same thing." I fidgeted, debating on whether I should say more. "You know, you asked about my mom and I kinda snapped at you. It's just… I went back to find her after seven years, and I found out she died in Los Angeles." My voice cracked, and I took a shaky breath. "She, um… she was a heavy drinker, and apparently she was out driving late one night about two years ago, and…" I couldn't continue.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well. It's… it's not like we were ever close. I ran away when I was ten. Best two years of my life were when I was running around with Luke and Annabeth. But still-"

"That's why you had trouble with the sun van."

I looked at him warily. What was he talking about? "What do you mean?"

"The way you stiffened up. You must've been thinking about your mom, not wanting to get behind the wheel."

I looked at him, almost sizing him up. Was he making fun of me?

I sighed. Right now, I didn't really care. "Yeah. Yeah, that must've been it."

I quickly walked toward the basketball court before Percy could say anything else. I didn't want to spill my guts out any more today then I already have.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" I asked as I reached the two arguing people.

"These Hunters think they own the court. Me and my buds wanna have a game. Thalia, tell them to get lost. It's our camp, we get dibs."

The Hunters glared at the Ares camper, and one reached for her bow, only stopping when I shot her a warning glance.

"You guys are arguing like two-year-olds. Ever heard of a thing called sharing? It's where you split things evenly. Hunters, one side of the court, Ares kids the other. It's really not that hard to cooperate, guys," I said with a sigh.

"How can you play a game with only half a court? This is so dumb. Why do the Hunters have to stay here?" asked an Ares camper grumpily.

"Do you think we want to stay here, with you disgusting boys? And besides, we could totally beat you in a game," said a Hunter, spinning the basketball on her finger.

"Oh, it's on. You sissies are going down. Whoever wins gets to stay on the court. Game to ten," said the Ares camper.

"Fine," smiled the Hunter. "Just get ready to be beaten."

I rolled my eyes and walked off the court. They could take their anger out on each other, I wasn't in the mood for arguing. I walked toward the Pavilion, where they were setting up dinner, and grabbed a plate, filling it with food.

I scraped a bit of pizza into the brazier, muttering "To Zeus" before sitting down at my lonely table to eat in silence before returning to my cabin for the night.

**Annabeth**

The first thing I thought consciously was that my head hurt. And not your normal headache, but a mind-splitting migraine. It took me a while to remember what the heck had happened to me before it all came rushing back.

Dr. Thorn, being hurled off a cliff, everything going black. I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the ground, my mouth practically eating the dirt.

I lifted my head up, spitting, trying to get the earth taste out of my mouth. I was hungry, but this wasn't exactly my first choice for filling my stomach. I pushed myself onto my knees, and looked around.

Where ever I was, it certainly wasn't Maine. Fog surrounded me. It felt like early fall, with the wind chilly, but still hot enough for me to be able to feel my fingers without any problem. I appeared to be on a dark hill, maybe a mountain, but the sky didn't seem quite right. If I were claustrophobic, I would have felt as if it was closing in on me somehow.

I stumbled to my feet, my head spinning. How long had I been out? And more importantly, where on earth was Dr. Thorn? I saw a faint blood trail and began to follow it. Whatever the Hunters had done must've made some real damage to him. I didn't think he could lose so much blood.

Old broken columns began to appear, Ancient Greek-like in their architectural style, made of black marble. Seriously, where the heck was I?

"Thorn! Where are you! Why did you bring me here?" I called, climbing over a broken wall, my voice dissipating in the fog. When I reached the top of the wall, I gasped.

A boy was in front of me, crumpled on the ground, trying unsuccessfully to stand. His blond hair was dirty with who-knows-what, and his clothes were shredded.

Luke.

"Annabeth! Help me! Please!" he called, and my heart beat faster at the sound of his voice, my body betraying me, even when my mind knew he was evil.

I ran forward anyway, tears starting to fall down my face from my inability to deny him. I reached down to touch his face, but hesitated.

"What happened?" I asked.

"They left me here," Luke groaned painfully. "Please. It's killing me."

"Why should I trust you?" I said, trying to sound strong, but only my hurt sounded.

"You shouldn't," Luke told me. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."

I was caught between a rock and a hard place. Luke had betrayed me, had tried to kill Percy, my best friend. But he was also the one who gave me my dagger. Had he changed? Was he… good again?

The darkness Luke was holding began to crumble, and Luke was pushed lower to the ground. I rushed forward to hold it just as a crack appeared, threatening to cause an avalanche.

The pain hit me, my muscles aching, my head pounding, and I was forced to crouch to hold the massive weight. My eyes had weird black spots, and I was finding it hard to think rationally.

"Thanks," I heard Luke say, and figured he had rolled free.

"Help me hold it," I managed to say, groaning in pain.

"I knew I could count on you," his voice told me, but I couldn't look at him. The pain was too much.

"HELP ME!" I begged, my arms and legs shaking with effort of holding this massive thing.

"Oh, don't worry," his voice floated over. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."

I couldn't answer. Everything just hurt too much. Emotionally and physically.

He'd done it again.

**How did you guys like that Annabeth bit?**

**Review!**


	6. Author's Note

**Hey, guys, sorry, this isn't an update ='(**

**Truth is, school started for me last Monday, and this is my new school, and they are giving me crap-loads of homework. I got today off for the hurricane that swept through the East Coast, but I still have a bunch of stuff I need to do.**

**One, I need to get used to my schedule. Not only will I have homework, but sport practices are after school nearly everyday from when I get out to 6 at night. IKR? That's like three hours of running =) But it's fun.**

**Two, they give us about three hours of homework a night. I'm not even taking math classes this semester, and I already have my hands full! I have no time to be writing, sadly. I barely have enough time just to go on the computer and do what I want!**

**Three, I also have other activities, like horse-back riding, art club, Ultimate club, yadda yadda yadda, so my schedule is stuffed.**

**So that means my little series is on hold for now, at least until I get my bearings at this new place, and once I do, there will probably be about one update a week, usually on the weekend, maybe two if my homework is done early.**

**Sorry, but I have no other options!**

**See you guys soon,**

**Kittycat32**


	7. I Don't Like Dead People

**HEEELLLOOO :) **

**Anyone miss me? Aw, come on, I know you did! Sheesh, I promised myself that it wouldn't take this long to update again. Actually, I was planning on updating in November until I heard about NaNoWriMo (WHICH I WON!) And ended up doing that instead. It was tough, let me tell you. 50,000 words in one month takes some serious willpower. At the end, I was about 5,000 words behind and ended up word sprinting for two hours to make those last few words. **

**Hmm, what else has happened since I've updated? Oh, I had my fifteenth birthday a few weeks ago! So, happy belated birthday to me. Ummm… High school has been great. Love it and never wanna leave. Don't know why I was freaking out before. I'm on winter break now. I actually get three weeks off! With the foreign students having to go back to Bermuda, Korea, China, and all those other countries (There are a lot.) **

**I'm not going to answer anyone's reviews this time, just because I haven't really looked at them in a long time, and I'm writing this from coming home from relatives about three hours away from me. **

**I'm probably going to be pretty rusty for the first few chapters, and after my break gets over, I'll only be updating on the weekends (Too much homework to do it in the week.) Hope you enjoy! My writing has improved a lot, in my opinion after school and NaNoWriMo. **

**I now have a tumblr, so you can follow me! Same username as Fanfiction. The link is on my page if you want it. I was thinking about doing maybe some weekly vlogs also, maybe on tumblr, maybe on YouTube? Whatcha think? Depends on how busy I am.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**I Don't Like Dead People**

**Thalia**

The next day was spent preparing for the Capture the Flag showdown against the Hunters. While we didn't have as many kids on our side as usual, we had Beckendorf, Clarisse, Percy, and I, some of the best fighters and strategists of Camp Half Blood. I would have guaranteed some sort of victory if we had Annabeth guiding us on how to beat the Hunters, but that obviously wasn't going to happen.

Besides, I wanted to show Zoë Nightshade that her Hunters weren't overpowering to us. The half bloods were just as good, if not better then her Hunters. She just had immortality on her side. Cheater.

We were suiting up for the game when Silena Beauregard grumbled, "I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" as she tightened her straps. "I'll pulverize them!"

I smiled. If we had the wrath of an Aphrodite daughter scorned, our chance just shot up. Seriously, don't mess with the Aphrodite girls about love, unless you want to get your head ripped off by some makeup-covered rabid girls.

I walked up to Percy. "I'll take offense, you take defense."

"Oh." Percy hesitated, wanting to contradict me. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?"

I rolled my eyes inwardly. That was one of the worst excuses I've ever had to get into fighting. Even as I put Aegis on my arm, people were already backing up.

"Well, I was thinking it would make better offense. Besides, you've had more practice on defense." I slyly added a little bit of superiority to myself by putting him down. I had already heard of some of the stories of Percy's mishaps with this game. I didn't want to risk it.

Percy realized her couldn't argue with my logic. "Yeah, no problem."

"Cool," I replied before turning to help some Aphrodite kids who couldn't seem to put on armor without being worried about breaking a nail.

I quickly gave my team an overview of the strategy. There was no point in running head-on into battle. That was Percy's style. We had to sneak around the Hunters. Their arrows would pick us off before we could even get close to the flag.

Chiron slammed his hoof on the stone floor of the Pavilion, signaling the usual speaking of the guidelines. "Heroes! You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team- Camp Half-Blood- shall take the east woods. Hunters of Artemis- red team- shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items allowed. To your positions!"

"Blue team! Follow me!" I called, and led the campers to our side of the creek as Percy fell over to a shield and on his face. Nice one. Made me look good, though.

Our flag was set up at the top of Zeus's Fist, aka a cluster of boulders that only at the right angle, looks like a fist coming from the ground, but at any other angle, looks like, well, a pile of poop.

Percy set Nico, Beckendorf, and the Stoll brothers as the main defenders, which was good. The two veterans would be able to teach the little guy a few things.

I looked at my half of the campers, about fifteen in all. "We'll send a decoy to the left," I decided. "Silena, you lead that."

"Got it!"

Gods, it gave me so much happiness to be a leader for these things. I loved it when people listened to me!

"Take Laurel and Jason," I continued. "They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise."

All of them lapped up my pep talk like my words were the best nectar t hey had ever tasted.

"Anything to add, Percy?" I asked. I did feel kind of bad leaving him on defense.

"Um, yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards and two scouts. That's not much for a big forest. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."

"And don't leave your post!" I added.

"Unless you see a golden opportunity," Percy said.

I scowled. "Just don't leave you post."

"Right, unless-"

Seriously, was the dude going to contradict everything I said? "Percy!" I shocked electricity into him with a touch to his arm. "Sorry," I mumbled, though I didn't mean it. "Now, is everybody clear?"

They nodded, and we split up, my team headed for the creek while the scouts took off in different directions.

We snuck across the creek easily, keeping to the edge of the boundaries and snaking our way through the forest. Shouts and yells told me that the Hunters had found Silena's distraction and were falling right into our plan.

The sounds of almost-silent footsteps reached my ears, signaling that the Hunters had found our party.

I let out a shout, and the group split in two, half stopping to defend us while the fastest runners began sprinting toward where we sure the Hunters had placed the flag. I raced toward the tree, only to find that the flag wasn't there. I spun desperately, until my eyes caught a fleeing blue helmet. Percy. Of course.

"Percy! What are you _doing_?" I screamed.

Before I could run after him, though, an arrow exploded at my feet.

Ugghh. A fart arrow. It was like someone had eaten beans, cabbage, and sewage all at the same time and turned it into the most horrific gas I have ever smelled. My eyes watered and my stomach turned over.

"No fair!" I called, coughing and gasping. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!"

Through the sickly yellow haze I saw Percy get up and start running from where he had fallen. I also spotted Zoë sprinting toward the creek, the flag in her hands, her feet flitting through the forest like a gazelle.

They leaped across the creek at the same time, and it kind of looked like one of those epic battle scenes, except when Percy and Thalia connected, there wasn't the clanging of swords, only the "oomph" of Percy as he was knocked back to the Hunter's side after a hard body slam with Zoë.

"The Hunters win!" called Chiron unenthusiastically. "For the fifty-sixth time in a row."

"Perseus Jackson!" I shouted, stomping toward him, my fingers letting out little shocks of static, my armor electrified with blue lightning. "What in the name of the gods were you THINKING?"

Percy hardened up, his face contorted in defiance. "I got the flag, Thalia! I saw a chance and I took it!" He shook the tattered flag at me.

"I WAS AT THEIR BASE! But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we would've won." My hands shook with anger.

"You had too many on you!" he retorted.

"Oh, so it's my fault?" I accused.

"I didn't say that."

"Argh!" I screamed, and in my anger, forgot I was electrically charged. I pushed him, the amount of electric volts coming out of my hands equal to defibrillator, and sending him into the creek, ten feet back.

I let out an inward gasp. I hadn't meant to do that! "Sorry!" I called. "I didn't mean to-"

Before I could finish, a wave of creek water washed over me, and I was just barely able to stay standing.

"Yeah," said Percy sarcastically. "I didn't mean to, either."

I breathed heavily.

"Enough!" Chiron called desperately, but I ignored him.

I put my spear into offense position. "You want some, Seaweed Brain?" In my mind, I vaguely registered the crowd of campers and Hunters around us.

"Bring it on, Pinecone Face!" he taunted back. I lifted up Riptide, but before he could charge, I yelled, and power coursed through me, lighting coming down from the sky and out my spear like a cannon. It hit his chest, and he fell to the ground, his clothes burning.

"Thalia! That is enough!" Chiron cried.

Percy stood up, an anger in his eyes that I hadn't seen before, and the creek began to tremble, rising up until there was a full-blown whirlpool circling dangerously above me.

"Percy!" Chiron practically begged. He was powerless to stop us.

Percy lifted his hands back with the beginnings of a through, but something caught his eye. The whirlpool faltered, then splashed back into the creek, as Percy stumbled, looking in the direction of camp.

"This is impossible," Chiron mumbled, shocked. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

I had a bad feeling as I turned around, my eyes catching sight of none other then the Oracle, in the flesh- or well, as much flesh as a dead, practically possessed body can have. The thing was creepy enough hiding away in it's little attic space, but here? Little pieces of who-knows-what floating off it in the wind, it looked like she was going to fall to dust any second. Dead people should stay dead, even if they were an Oracle.

I clapped my hands over my ears as her voice slithered inside my head.

_I am the spirit of Delphi. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. _She turned to Zoë Nightshade. _Approach, Seeker, and ask._

Zoë swallowed, and then said, "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, a green mist floating from it, and we saw a hazy image of a figure kneeling on top of a mountain, wrapped in chains. It was Artemis, and it looked like she was in pain.

_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

Then, as if to make the scene, anymore dramatic, the Oracle dropped to the ground, as lifeless as if she had been there a thousand years.

Well, I was in for a big load of crap.

**I'll admit, fanfictioning is a lot easier now after writing a book. I can easily keep this up! Until next time!**

**Review!**


End file.
